Railway-switch.



PATENTED APR. 23, 1907.

V. ANGERBR.

RAILWAY SWITCH.

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was mmms PETERS ca "ASNINCTON PATENTED APR. 23, 1907.

V. ANGERER. RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED Mn. 15. 1901.

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VICTOR ANGERER, OF RIDLEY PARK, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAh/I l/VHARTON, Jlt, & COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF PHILA- DELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY-SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 23, 1907.

Application filed March 15, 1907. Serial No. 362,442.

.Z'oall whom it vita/y concern:

Be it known that I, VICTOR ANGERER, a citizen of the United States, residing in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, have invented cer tain Improvements in'Railway-Switches, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to prevent the rapid closing of a spring switch. This object I attain by providing a dash pot which will allow the switch to slowly close when opened by the wheels of a locomotive or car passing through the switch.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1, is a plan view, partly in section, illustrating my invention as applied to an ordinary split switch; Fig. 2, is a view illustrating my invention as applied to the movable spring split switch rail; Fig. 3, is a view of my invention applied to a street railway switch with a movable spring actuated tongue; Fig. 4, is a view showing the invention so ar ranged that it will act when the switch rails are in either of their two positions, and Figs. 5 and 6, are detail views or the dash pot.

Referring in the first instance to Fig. 1, A, A are the main rails of the track. B, B are the rails of the siding or turn-out. A and B are the movable points of the split switch connected together by the tie rods 0. E is a rod extending to the operating mechanism and this rod passes through a bracket 0 on one of the tie rods and in this bracket is a coiled spring 6 which is so connected to the operating rod that when the switcln so Objectionable on a siding or turn-out as it.

is on a main line and, therefore, I provide means whereby the closing of the switch point B only against its rail is retarded. In

the present instance pivoted to a bearing D secured to one of the cross ties is a lever D,

the short arm of this lever is connected by a rod (Z to the switch point B and the long arm of the lever is connected to a rodf carrying a plunger F mounted within a dash pot G secured to one of the cross ties. The opening 9 in the end of the dash pot for the passage of the rod is of such a size as to allow a given amount of air to escape between the walls of the opening and the rodf, causing the plunger in the dash pot to return slowly after it has been forced out of position by the passage of a wheel through the switch. Thus the closing of the switch is insured by the action of the spring a but it will not close suddenly owing to the action of the plunger in the dash pot. In many instances the switch will remain open during the passage of an entire train through the switch, providing the train is traveling at a fair speed. If the train is passing the switch very slowly then the dash pot will allow the switch to close between the forward truck and the rear truck of the car, but will prevent the entire closing of the switch between the wheels of each truck. After the train has passed the mechanism will cause the switch to close before it is possible for another train to pass onto the switch from the point end and deflected from the desired course. The dash pot may be modified in many ways without departing from the essential feature of the invention, which is to allow a certain amount of leakage of air from the dash pot in order to slowly close the switch.

In Fig. 2, I have shown my invention applied to a switch structure in which only one tongue is movable, the other tongue being fixed. In this instance there is a spring box IE secured to one of the cross ties and mounted in this spring box is a spring 6 forcing against a plunger 0* connected to the rail B This rail is forced against the main rail A I attach the rod f carrying the plunger F directly to the rail and mount the plunger in the dash pot G which is also attached to one of the cross ties, so that when the switch rail 13 is forced away from the rail A by a wheel passing through. the switch the spring a will be compressed and the plunger will move in the dash pot. When the wheel has passed the switch the spring a will tend to force the switch down into the closed position against the rail A but the plunger in the dash pot will retard the clos' ing movement.

In Fig. 3, I have shown my invention applied to an ordinary pivoted tongue street railway switch. In this instance the tongue B is pivotally mounted in a switch casting H, which may be connected to the rails of the main track and turn-out. At one side of the casting is a box K; i is a rod extending from th switch tongue B into the box K and on this rod is a spring t held between the shoulder 4? on the rod and the bearin 7c on the box. Pivoted at 7c to a bearing on t e box is a lever (1, the short arm of this lever is connected to the rod i and the long arm is connected to a rod on the plunger F mounted in the dash pot G. In this instance the main track is normally open. In the event of a car going from the siding onto the main track the switch tongue B will be forced over against the pressure of the spring i, and as soon as the wheel passes the switch the tongue will gradually close to its normal position, being retarded in its movement by the dash pot.

In Fig. 4, I have illustrated my invention as applied to a switch in such manner that it will act when the switch rails are in either of two positions. In this instance, I use a dash pot Gr closed at both ends'and having escape ports g at each end, which may or may not be provided with valves to regulate the amount of opening. Instead of the single dash pot the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 1 may be duplicated on the opposite side of the track, if desired.

In Figs. 5 and 6, I have shown the dash pot in detail. The dash pot has an air inlet port 9 provided with a check valve 9 to prevent the escape of air from the cylinder through this passage when the plunger is moving forward, but which will allow the air to freely flow into the dash pot when the plunger is moving in the reverse direction.

The valve illustrated in Figs. 5 and6 is simply a flat valve hinged to the casing, but it will be'understood that any suitable form of check valve may be used without departing from my invention.

The plunger may be connected directly to the movable rail or tongue, as shown in Fi 2, or it may be indirectly connected l3l1I'OU1 a lever, as shown in Fig. l, and the arm of the lever can be made of any length desired, but

by attaching the long arm of the lever to the plunger its movement is increased over that of the rail, which is desirable.

I claim 1. The combination of a rail, a pivoted switch tongue, a spring tending to hold the switch tongue against the rail, and means for retarding the movement of the switch tongue toward the rail, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a rail, a switch tongue bearing against the rail, a spring tending to yieldingly hold the switch tongue against the rail, a dash pot, a plun er in the dash pot connected to the rail so t at when the switch. tongue is forced away from the rail by the action of a wheel passing through the switch the movement of the tongue toward the rail will be retarded by the air entrapped within the dash pot, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a rail,a movable switch tongue, a spring tending to hold the tongue against the rail, a pivoted lever, one arm of the lever being connected to the tongue, a plunger connected to the other arm, and a dash pot in which the plunger is mounted, substantially as described.

4. The combination in a switch, of a rail, a switch tongue, a spring tending to hold the tongue against the rail, a lever pivoted at a fixed point, a rod connecting the short arm of the lever with the switch point, a plunger, a rod connecting the plunger with the long arm of the lever, a dash pot secured in a fixed position and in which the plunger is mounted, said dash pot having leakage openings so that a given amount of air can escape to retard the closing movement of the switch tongue, substantially as described.

5. The combination of a rail, a pivoted switch tongue, a spring tending to hold the switch tongue against the rail, a dash pot, a plunger in the dash pot connected to the rail, an air inlet passage communicating with one end of the dash pot, and a check valve controlling the flow of air through the opening, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

VICTOR ANGERER.

WVitnesses:

WM. A. BARR, Jos. H. KLEIN. 

